The Bipolar Brain – A Radio Station You Can’t Turn Off

Ah, the human brain. It’s a wondrous thing. It calculates, it categorizes, it makes connections and it remembers the square root of 144. I’m constantly awed by its power.

But one of the annoying things that can happen to a brain is that somehow, a song gets stuck in it. Somehow, even though its great power and ability, the catchy hook of the latest pop song gets stuck inside some errant neurons and plays over and over.

And this causes a lot more trouble in my bipolar brain than it does for others.

I Have Justin Bieber Stuck in My Head; I’m Thinking of Cutting it Off

I find myself with songs stuck in my head all the time. Like, every day, all the time. And they aren’t songs that I like or even songs I have heard that day they are just random songs that somehow fight their way into my consciousness long enough to create a groove there. And once they’re there? Good luck getting them out.

My Bipolar Brain and Earworms

According to Wikipedia, this phenomenon is known as an “earworm,” “musical imagery repetition” or “involuntary music imagery.” In Germany, they have a special word for it – Ohrwurn – “a type of song that typically has a high, upbeat melody and repetitive lyrics that verge between catchy and annoying.”

Earworms are completely natural, of course, and apparently, 98% of people experience them. Women seem to experience earworms for longer and are more irritated by them. Songs with lyrics account for about three-quarters of earworms.

My Earworm Moved In

Unlike the experience that most people have, I have earworms much of the time. Sometimes it’s one song that repeats for days and sometimes it’s many songs in a day, but predominantly they are there.

I have found no research suggesting people with bipolar disorder have more incidence of earworms than others but there is research that says people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do and as I’ve remarked previously, OCD and bipolar disorder may be linked. And earworms on hypomania? That is your brain on extra-crispy-crazy.

Admittedly, it is a very obsessive thing my brain does. It feels like an obsession with the invisible. I can never see it so it never goes away. And I find this highly troubling.

Like, highly troubling. Like I could see someone wanting to ice pick his or herself just to make the blooming song in his or her head shut the heck up. It’s that much of an anxious obsession. It’s crazy-driving obsession. Sometimes I feel like I’m begging my brain to think of anything else but it laughs and carries on with the 30-second loop.

Holy macaroni is it ever frustrating.

So, my question to you is this: How often do you experience earworm? Is it troubling to you?

APA ReferenceTracy, N.
(2012, November 23). The Bipolar Brain – A Radio Station You Can’t Turn Off, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2019, September 15 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/breakingbipolar/2012/11/bipolar-brain-radio-cant-turn-off

I have bipolar and get wonderful earworms when I'm high. I love it. It's my own disco. The main problem is that I have to use a lot of effort not to sing out loud with it or dance with it in public- all part of being high. I did find that the song would often reflect an issue I was thinking about or the mood I am in, or would be triggered by someone saying a phrase...for example today when I hear someone say "hello" I then 'hear' Adele singing her recent hit.
I thought I was possibly hallucinating music but on discussion with my psychiatrist it's just an exaggerated earworm experience.
Hello from the other side.....

I'm trying to figure out how to stop my humming and singing. Although I actually am a very good singer and DO like to sing for people what I want to stop is the constant repetitive humming and singing looped segments of songs over , over and over alllll the time.
I live alone which may have something to do with why I do it? Ive noted the places I sing or hum more will be the kitchen, I can be laying on my bed using my iPad like I am this minute then I get up n go to the kitchen to get a drink and within seconds of being in the kitchen I'm doing the repetitive hum /sing thing. It's exhausting, gives me an actual headache, stresses my throat too I'm sure. When I realise I'm humming yet again I even say out loud...Lisa ! Shut up! Then a sec later il start but I find I'm interrupting myself abruptly by saying....SHHH!... Lol...funny I guess but it's not really coz I drive myself mad.
If I go shopping with a friend and we wander off to different parts of the store, they say they can always find me coz they hear me humming or singing a tune. Other shoppers have commented also. All I can do is apologise.
I've taken mine a step further also but the fact I not only sing radio songs or usually looping only parts of but I invent my own tunes sometime with lyrics and repeat them over and over. Then taking it even further, I invent my own language in a way, for example I don't know German but I know the sound of the language and I'm VERY good with accents so I make up words or lines that sound German or just another language and use them to make a short song or verse, usually short lines tho.
I've repeated the short lines so much hat I have made a joke of it and said its another language...it's like I'm teaching MYSELF another language...I work in aged care and have even joked around with residents teaching them some words in this made up language.
I'm tired and want to be able to turn off.....
If I'm focussed on doing another activity like typing or talking then I'm often ok...well obviously coz I'm already engaged in talking, but other than that I hum or sing on n off allll day long.
I'm a picker n biter too, pick n bite the skin around my fingers til it's raw or sometimes bleeding plus I bite the inside of my mouth and lips often til it bleeds. It hurts and looks ugly so I don't actually want to do it...but again it's an action I've found hard to stop and is worse when stressed or anxious.
( I'm a massive sleep dreamer and vividly recall every thing I dream and often wake myself by talking in my sleep...I wake tired every morning so wished I could block recall of my dreams too)
I can't afford exp spychs...can someone help me out....I'm annoyed and tired of myself.

I am 65 years old. I have had an earworm for nearly ten years. It is a simple four-bar blues progression, over and over and over...not a specific song. It started with singing along with the air-conditioner in my office, sort of harmonizing with it. Then this basic blues thing just got stuck and has never gone away. Hypnotism didn't help, acupuncture didn't help, chiropractic didn't help. I have deteriorating disc disorder and had to have a big operation on my neck. The surgeon said it might help the earworm, but it did not. It tortures me. I have to have things pretty quiet all the time, because this tune overrides everything I hear and makes me intolerant of noisy situations. Sometimes when I listen to other music it drops into the background for awhile. If I am having a really intense conversation with someone, it also drops into the background. I use a white noise machine so I can sleep at night, and sometimes this doesn't work either. I can't listen to the wind or the rushing of a country stream or a bird singing without hearing the same little tune over and over and over, drowning out everything else. I have tried various antidepressants and anxiety medications, but they do nothing for the earworm. I think it's got to be some kind of a synapse issue in my brain; feels like there's a short circuit. I have never been diagnosed bipolar or with OCD or ADD or anything like that, but I tell you, soon I will be certifiably insane and they will have to put me in a rubber room. I have written letters and queries and checked in with websites like this one, but have never found a solution. I feel for the folks in this forum who have similar problems, like the poor man who bangs his head. That's how I feel. I often cry about it. I wish someone could properly diagnose me. Is there any other place I can go for help?

I got diagnosed with bipolar disorder 1 when I was 35 years old, after some spells of depression but mostly years of hypomania. I didn't realize it was hypomania at the time. I just thought other people were lazy or listless or not goal-driven.
The non-stop, distracting, frustrating, non-productive songs in my head began at age 35 as well, either part of bipolar disorder or the series of first and/or second generation medications I was prescribed till finally Geodon provided some relief (for my mood, not for the music).
I think there's a difference between earworms and the repetitive music that comes with altered brain chemistry and/or physiology. People will say that they and everyone else, now and then, get a song stuck in their minds, which, of course, is true. It's difficult to express, without seeming grandiose or whiney, that the music in my brain is different. It's maddening and, because I tend to hum along with the music, it annoys my friends and family. The more anxious I am, the more constant the music plays and the louder I hum.
I have a limited repertoire for my "musical psychosis/obsession/compulsion, which makes the music even more horrible. Here are my "greatest hits": "She'll Be Coming around the Mountain," "The Ants Go Marching One by One," "God Bless America," and "Jesus Loves Me." (I'm not religious, I should point out so it's not as if the latter two songs get reinforced by repeated exposure at church.)
When I'm in full-blown mania, I add Christmas carols to the mix, and I bypass humming into singing aloud at the top of my lungs. Instead of singing the actual words, I use only three swear words (bad enough to be banned on network TV). I'm not typically sacrilegious either, and I rarely swear when I'm my "normal" self.
For me, the constant music isn't the result of sensory deprivation. I had a psychologist tell me that because the music is children's songs, my reptilian brain is asserting itself, trying to pacify the rest of my brain with childhood feelings of safety and love. I don't know if that's an evidence-based conclusion or just an assuring sentiment.
I know that a fairly small percentage of people with epilepsy have hypergraphia (obsessive, compulsive writing) and an even smaller percentage sing excessively. And most (all?) of atypical antipsychotics now available to treat bipolar disorder were initially developed, and are prescribed, for epilepsy.
"She'll be comin' around the mountain ... ."

I feel like kdawg, I have been given medication for epilepsy &amp; it's a bit like lithium, my mind race's and my pulse and anxiety goes threw the roof n sweating, and has been like this for the best 20 years of my life and I feel the same can't take another 20 mins not to mention the rest of my life, fighting with myself in my own head, I have to deal with this myself my doc doesn't care and as far as my friends they thought it was funny to torment me. I had no idea how cruel people are, so keep yer head up and don't give up the fight. Good luck kdawg ur not alone dude....

My therapist has tossed around the idea that I may be bi-polar, but she hasn't confirmed it. U suffer from relentless songs on loops in my head, to the point of migraines and I just want to give up. I'm 14, almost 15, I finally decided to try and research what it was called, so maybe there was a cure or something to quite the noise. I can barely sleep a couple of hours at night, and I do sleep with a fan on, actually 2; but this doesn't seem to do ANYTHING for me. Sometimes if I concentrate hard enough I can push the song that's playing into the background and replace it with a different song for a couple minutes; but in the end the original song eventually comes back.

I'm a 74-year-old female, don't take any medications, don't think I'm bipolar, but experience a bit of OCD from time to time, mostly having to do with right angles and straight lines. I can't remember a time in my life when there wasn't music going through my head and yes, I hear it as well as feel myself silently humming it--a sensation in the back of my throat. Six months ago I decided to see if I could detect a pattern to the songs (with words) and melodies (without words) that plagued me. I'm picky about which ones I write down, and won't record an advertising jingle or a song that know I've heard recently. The music that I hear upon waking is always recorded. Yesterday I typed up my list from the little notebook I've carried around for all these months, sorted it to eliminate the duplicates, and have unique 177 entries. They range from nursery rhymes through opera, are heavy on my favorites (or not) from the Fifties and Sixties, show tunes, and include a number of songs I didn't even know I knew. When a few words kept repeating but I didn't know the title of the song, I'd google "Lyrics" and then the words--I could usually find the proper title to record in my book. I used to think that if I could methodically sing the entire song, the worm would be satisfied and would take that particular song away, but instead it mostly made it stick around longer. Strangely, some of my very favorite songs and arias--the ones I seek out when I listen to music on YouTube--are not on my worm list. The only time I'm aware of being song-free is when I'm actively listening to music, but occasionally I can listen to one melody and have another sneak in unbidden. Have any of you listened to the Radio Lab discussion about the man who could follow four different symphonies in his head at once? How they proved his ability to do this is too complex to explain here, but the phenomenon certainly illustrates the brain's capacity for multitasking, perhaps what's happening on a minor scale to those who own brain worms.

I am a playwright and composer. I have been in the field for for 17 years. First of all, like everyone, I thought I was alone. My ear worm is constant too. None of my own songs are ever part of it. It is short phrases, some known music and some unknown. But it is a short burst of maybe a 5 second melody over and over. Sometimes I am so sick of it after I realize it has been 4 hours constantly. I yell "Stop!" out loud. It starts immediately again.
I am bipolar as some of you are. I feed it involuntarily by following it with a very quiet shallow whistle with my inhaling and exhaling.

What I have discovered is this happens when I am doing simple things on automatic: raking, walking the dog, cleaning, wood work around the house. Everything that does not need a fully engaged brain . But the ear worn "never" appears when I am writing, composing, speaking with someone, on the phone, trying to figure out a problem. In other words, activities that engage my brain's full attention. This never changes.

You may think this is strange but I wrote ear worm into one of my shows. The main character goes to a psychiatrist about a melody that never ceases and he is going insane. The psychiatrist says " You have an ear worm. " Character says: "What the hell is that?"
Shrink replies ( I made this up totally) " Well think of a submarine. If there is a raging fire, the captain orders certain compartments to be flooded to save the the men and the ship. What is happening to you is your brain has become so Hyperactive that it is raging on fire
in some of your cognitive departments threatening you. A ear worm is ordered by the decision making yet the subconscious part of your brain to flood some of the compartments to stop the fire from getting out of control....And you really do not realize this is a safety precaution, even though it is a total nuisance." Character: "I'd rather detonate the torpedoes than listen to this melody over and over."
Well this is just a sign that I am so happy that I am not alone with this sickening malfunction . thanks Peter

I have read all comments above so as to compare my ongoing issues with earworms. Not diagnosed as bipolar. Since 16 I have been experiencing this torment. Each year it gets progressively worse. I don't do drugs, I rarely touch alcohol, and I took past medications as prescribed. This isn't come and go. It's non stop. Minimum 90% of my day is musical loops generated within my mind. I'm not deaf, I'm not a musician and I listen to music as often as the average person. Been on medications for almost a decade and I haven't seen any improvement. In fact, I'm becoming even more pessimistic and suicidal because of this. I don't stress over the earworms because it will make it worse to worry. So I don't, but my brain has become hardwired to think this is normal? Anyone have any long term experience or a cure to share? I can't live like this anymore. 10 years is enough. The thought of dealing with this the rest of my life... I will commit suicide well before that happens. This is serious. Please help and save a life. Thank you.

Diagnosed bipolar.
Get earworms all the time. Currently Black Magic *cringe* by Little Mix. Yikes, I don't even like them.
I often get bits of pop songs, round and round they go. Looping endlessly. Used to get songs from TV adverts. Or jingles. How annoying.
I'll agree somewhat with the sensory deprivation idea. But that wouldn't be the case today, I've been around lots of people since 9am. So don't know what set it off today.

My earworms got ssttrroonngg and dark themed as I headed into a mixed episode with high anxiety and agitation/restlessness. So maybe this could tie in the the original question of hypomania. I was powerless to stop them , also I concluded that maybe the lyrics were chosen subconsciously by my brain to match vocabulary in my own conscious thoughts.

Uhhh yeah. I deal with this and have for years. The moment I have a conscious thought upon waking, the music starts and it just keeps going throughout the day and on into the night. I sleep with a fan blowing right by my head to drown out the music do I can sleep.
But I'll go a step further.
Mine actually has a "station identification Jingle.....
"W.A.D.E....Brain Raaadioooo!"
No it's not cute. It's annoying.

I don't have the problem with ear worms, but my husband does. It's more than just an annoyance. It's a merciless torment! It's been happening to him for about a couple of years that I can see. A song plays somewhere &amp; that song comes on in his mind &amp; stays there for days. It's very upsetting for me because he pounds his head loudly with his hands or bangs it against the wall. It usually starts upon waking up. Th only relief he can get is when he turns the radio on. Lately, the ear worms have been coming on even through the radio.

My husband takes several different medications. He takes Risperdal, Zoloft &amp; Seroquel. That medicine must be taken, or he starts to get mentally sick. His psychologist is a pill pusher, but even he thinks he's taking too much medication. And even so, the ear worms are still coming mercilessly. He had been taking Olanzapine, but it kills his sex drive &amp; makes his penis hurt. But it seemed to help. They still came occasionally, but it would be days of peace. He stopped taking it. I don't know what to do to help him. There is nothing new I can say or try. This is a nightmare that we can't seem to wake up from.

Where have all the flowers gone? La la la la...day two non-stop filling in any lack of racing thoughts...why this song? God only knows! I believe there is a link to mood disorder, I'm not diagnosed ocd but bipolar...meditation certainly should help I may try it.

This started manifesting when I was a teenager. May've been due to various pharmaceuticals I was manipulated into taking during a traumatic part of my life where I was neglected, abused, and locked away out of abuse and lack of care/concern/understanding. I think it more probable it was from the trauma and not the pharmaceutical soup.

My hypothesis is that this manifested in me due to sensory deprivation. I think your brain has to focus on something in reality, else it looses contact with reality. Read about sensory deprivation, how it negatively affects people (including causing auditory hallucinations), and how it is considered torture by the U.N. The theory goes along the lines of the brain is wired to the senses, and has to have stimuli otherwise it malfunctions. Read this, for example:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140514-how-extreme-isolation-warps-minds
Here is an excerpt: "Why does the perceptually deprived brain play such tricks? Cognitive psychologists believe that the part of the brain that deals with ongoing tasks, such as sensory perception, is accustomed to dealing with a large quantity of information, such as visual, auditory and other environmental cues. But when there is a dearth of information, says Robbins, 'the various nerve systems feeding in to the brain’s central processor are still firing off, but in a way that doesn’t make sense. So after a while the brain starts to make sense of them, to make them into a pattern.' It creates whole images out of partial ones. In other words, it tries to construct a reality from the scant signals available to it, yet it ends up building a fantasy world."

Often times the song I'd heard most recently is stuck there, such as from fast food lobbies, and I can change it. Things like coffee don't help. Like others here said, I can change the song, slow it down, make it louder, mix it with other songs, etc. If it's too loud and plays for too long, it gives me a painful headache and ibuprofen makes it go away (interestingly I think it makes the music go away too). Also loud noises such as the dinger on the bus can do the same thing, it repeats in my brain without me wanting it, and it causes a painful headache.
I feel like something has to be there on your consciousness, I can't make it go away without either ibuprofin, or the following procedure:
(i) Synthesize a hum or constant noise similar to what you hear in the environment (e.g. a fan nearby), and focusing on that for a minute. If you don't have a constant noise, find a source to eliminate the sensory deprivation. It mustn't vary much in tone. The music may try to blurp back every now and then but focus on the hum.
(ii) Eventually just listen to the hum in reality, and the mental audio (music and synthesized hum) goes away.
I can read much better when this synthesized music goes away. Otherwise I'd read the same paragraph dozens of times and nothing sinks in.
From my experience, I think avoiding sensory deprivation is the solution. Make sure to talk to people more, and make them part of your daily routine. Insufficiency of human connection and touch is the cause IMO.

This is part of the reason I think the U.S. has a lot of mental health issues compared to Europe for example. The U.S. is all non-touchy and anti-humane culturally, that and other issues are why I think the U.S. doesn't have good culture.

Also, this reminds me of Scott Adams's experience (the author of the Dilbert comic strip). He developed a condition called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_dystonia" title="focal dystonia" rel="nofollow"> where his hand twitched uncontrollably, causing him to be unable to write/work. Consensus about the disease was that there was no treatment, and he'd have to change his lifestyle (no more comics). He said he treated himself through will, dedication, and repetition to the point where he no longer was affected; he somehow trained his brain to not twitch his writing hand anymore. He talks about this in his great self-help book "How To Fail at Almost Everything And Still Win Big"; he has great life advice and is very funny :) I highly recommend it http://time.com/34081/how-to-fail-at-almost-everything-and-still-win-big/

Thank you for adding a different angle on this, Andrew. I also experienced isolation and neglect. I'm interested in all angles and views on this, as I really want to solve it. I do know that when I was taking inositol for OCD, the songs went away, after some time. I would prefer some sort of cognitive behavioral therapy instead, to try to stop this at the source. Anxiety treatment is going to be my first step. I am going to order Scott Adams's book today. Thank you again.

I want to say thanks to Natasha and other posters as I have struggled with this flaming radio station for 5 years. Although on antidepresdents for anxiety and stress the songs are always there but reading all the comments I realise that I'm not alone as its hard to cope sometimes. So thanks to all.

I dont have bipolar or OCD but i am profoundly deaf started losing my hearing at 16 and lost the ability to hear music about 5 years ago so my musical backlist is pre 2010! My particular "earworm" song is a song by the Jam called Life From a Window, I sing the the lyrics "Life from a window, I'm just taking in the view' then the guitar riff that follows it! I used to love the song but its wearing me down now. I find that after a while i change the structure of the song, like slow it down or change some part of it might be my brains way of coping with the repetition. Like a previous poster mentioned i dont think its particular to bipolar but possibly stress related so may apply to any number of physicological illneses or disabilities

Hi,
I had been diagnosed with OCD 3 months back and I am absolutely sick of the earworms!. The song - usually a recent hit and melodious, continuously plays on my head for almost a week!.. There are phases of such episodes.!. The songs are which I love a lot, but I just cant stop them from playing on my head.

My therapist helps me out to sort out and understand my own thoughts and assumptions. I have been adviced to try to focus my senses on the work at hand and figure my reasons properly!. :)

Ha! I'm stuck on my own relentless "upbeat" version of "Oh My Darling Clementine", which is just a switch from whatever else I was humming, or playing on Radio Malicity earlier. I can't believe I never looked this up!

I remember only one day out of my 30 odd years of earworms, or being happy with what I was playing. At least for the first few hours. To combat the crap they play in stores (which I rarely know, so only a measure/bar or two will repeat), I find that if I listen to something I like a lot, I can sometimes redirect; if only briefly.

"Because you know I'm all about that bass 'bout that bass, no treble...
By Meghan Trainor

It doesn't help that the radio stations keep playing the same songs over and over again

Or how about

"I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my system blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive... By Imagine Dragon. I think that one's even in a TV commercial as well

Although I don't quite see how this relates specifically to bipolar disorder since it affects most of the general public, I do get how it can become a problem for someone with OCD

"....and we'll never be roooy-als (roooy-als) it don't run in our blood, that kind of lux just ain't for us, we crave a different kinda buzzzz......." Irritating. Annoying, and completely stuck in my head 24/7.

I am bp, adhd, have extreme hypersensitivity and probably ocd too (they are probably all related and are the symptoms of some kind of mental illness that haven't identified yet). I tend to get very obsessive about things, a lot of times about really stupid things, and I just can't get this crazy stuff out of my head..But, I don't really get earworms that much, maybe because I'm singing all the time. But, although this isn't quite the same thing, many times when I have the fan on (I like to have some white noise when I'm trying to sleep..it helps me a little.), It's a box fan because the constant clicking of the ceiling fan drives me crazy. But, I guess box fans are just as bad, because when I am in bed trying to go to sleep, which always takes forever, I many times, but thank goodness not always, hear music, usually with someone sing coming out of the fan. It usually seems like it's country music, which I hate, and it goes on and on and sometimes there is talking too. I end up turning off the fan because it is so incredibly annoying. i guess that sounds really crazy, but, hey..I'm crazy! I don't know if anyone else hears that as well. But, I guess it's not as bad as earworms, at least I can turn the fan off.

Oh my gosh! This happens to me all the flippin time!!! I am bipolar 2 with OCD anxiety and all the other good stuff that comes worth bipolar that make me well me. But I recently discovered that it happens to me more often as a subcontious thing like if there is music in the background of a store or something those annoying little notes sneak in and torment me!!!

I get that a lot. But mostly, it's just a few words. It drives me absolutely insane. The only way to make it stop, is to journal. And if I'm to busy to journal, I suffer the consequences all day. I didn't know they had a disorder for it. Thank you for enlightening me.

I also suffer from nearly-constant earworms (as in nearly every hour of every day), usually pop songs. They may or may not be songs I heard recently.

However, unlike many people on this discussion forum, I do not suffer from bipolar disorder or any other mental illness (I know, I am fortunate...). Just helps to confirm that this issue can strike anyone. I am a musician and songwriter though, and I believe this is a major factor in why I get earworms -- my brain is highly trained in analyzing / dissecting music. It still drives me crazy though because usually the earworms are NOT wanted.

The times when the ear worms seem to go away is when I'm heavily focused on a mental task -- my brain is too busy for earworms. Meditation may also help -- focus on your breathing and possibly a repeated mantra to help clear your mind, including getting rid of pesky earworms. Good luck and best of health to everyone.

I am so glad I am not alone! I was recently diagnosed with Bipolar disorder is January 2015. I went to a family doctor with severe anxiety and depression. He put me on an anti depressant called Citalopram and I ended up being on the crazy train! I'm finally on meds that help me. I want to live again. I hear music in my head daily! I don't always pick the song either. At times it drives me insane and sometimes I just go with it. I don't mind the Jimi Hendrix days. I hate Katy Perry days. Sometimes I hear church music that I grew up singing. I notice that it does get better when I am around other people and staying busy. When my anxiety is high I think I actually use it to comfort me. I totally understand how you guys feel! I always have a song playing when I first wake up in the morning. It can be really irritating. I am so glad I found this site!

I've enjoyed this post and the replies... people with OCD/bipolar can be the most brilliant! I have laughed seeing myself in all of this while I softly sing Winter Wonderland relentlessly. It's been in my head and out my mouth since I made reference to the song on Facebook the other day. I am glad to know I am not alone and that there is a name for this compulsion. I know that getting upset about it doesn't help, but it is frustrating when the moment I tell myself to stop I am still singing it in my next breath. There is one fascinating thing I have noticed and it can be constructive. ASK YOURSELF WHAT THE SONG IS TRYING TO TELL YOU. LISTEN TO AND READ THE LYRICS AND YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED AT WHAT JUMPS OUT AT YOU. E.G. I WAS IN THE YARD WORKING ONE DAY SINGING "LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH" OVER AND OVER. I REALIZED THAT I COULDN'T BE WITH THE ONE I LOVE AND THERE WAS A MAN NEARBY WHO LOVED ME. I DENIED HIM BECAUSE I WAS IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE ELSE. .. I LEARNED THAT I WOULD NEVER ACTUALLY BE WITH THE ONE I LOVED AND IT HELPED ME TO MAKE THE DECISION TO MOVE ON. FUNNY THING IS... ONE I RECEIVED THE LESSON, THE SONG LEFT MY HEAD.

Sleigh Bells ring, are you listnin' ? Thank you for this post and for listening to my story. ♥

Hi, I'm commenting for advice so no judgments please. I'm 16 and smoke meth, I've smoked it on and off for about 2 years and I can handle it well. I've tried every drug accept for heroin and acid. I excessively smoked weed for a year up until January 2014, all day every day. It's all I did, it effected me mentally a hell of a lot more than meth ever has. I don't tend to do other drugs much besides meth. Which I do on weekends and maybe once during the week. I have over dosed on party pills before in my past. I got diagnosed with major anxiety in 2013. I used to smoke meth everyday, but I quit for 2weeks and since I started back my body is so much less tolerant than it used to be. I used to be able to casually eat and sleep on it just like I wasn't high. But now I do it and it's like I first started again, I have no appetite and will lay in bed with my eyes closed for at least 5 hours before I get an hour or 2 sleep then wake up. The worst part is, while I'm laying there trying to sleep I have these continuous random songs playing in my head and it is impossible to get them out. If I manage to think about something other than the song that's playing in my head, before I know it a song will be straight back in there. It's like I'm at war with my mind. It drives me insane it's almost like I'm getting bullied by these songs no matter how hard I try and beg for them to go away they just won't. From memory I think I may of even teered up a few times cause I feel so tired and hopeless. I never knew there was any such thing as ear worms until tonight when I searched it up and found out its a known thing. But I also saw that it is linked to bipolar and OCD? I have a lot of symptoms of OCD but does anyone have any advice on if they think I could have either of these things or how to stop the songs?! Please and thank you

Playing the radio helps me stop the music in my head. The songs completely go away while I'm listening to the radio. After I turn the radio off, the "earworms" return - but it give me peace for a while. Thank you for your post, it's the first time I read that this is associated with OCD.. I'm sure, I definitely have OCD and I have 95% of the traits associated with Asperger's and I hate to say it but probably some bipolar in there too. Anyhow, I hope the radio helps. Thanks.

Hi, my husband was recently diagnosed with a mild case of bi-polar disorder. For years (actually, as long as I have known him) he wakes up with some random 80's song blaring in his head. It usually isn't a song he particularly likes, nor is it a song he has recently heard. Then, for the next hour or so, (or until we go to work), he sings the song at the top of his lungs. Admittedly, it gets on my nerves. And on the kids' nerves. I can't imagine what it must sound like inside his head.

He says it helps to listen to the song all the way through, so he can hear the ending of the song. Thank God for itunes.

I have OCD along with terrible anxiety. This has created major depression and social anxiety. This earworm illness has been a problem for over ten years. Everyday from when I wake up til I sleep. Everyday, every minute, with barely a break when I'm incredibly distracted.
The stress from this affects my diet. I barely eat because of the stress.
Even when I should be totally relaxed, I'm still anxious. Difficulty sleeping, difficulty breathing (constricted nasal passages), grinding my teeth.
Tried Zoloft, Prozac, Celexa, Paxil, Abilify, Viibryd. Nothing. I've all but given up.
There is no family history of anxiety and clinical depression.
From what I'm reading, you people have NORMAL earworm. Comes and goes, just like everyone else. Not me. Everyday. Non stop. Becoming suicidal.
If anyone is experiencing anything like this or might have suggestions, please. Save a life.

Hi Ken. I am a 63 year old woman. I have battled this for years. I constantly repeat 3 or 4 notes to a song. The busier I am the faster I hum. This gives me a headache, sore mouth and tongue as i move them around while humming. This goes on 24/7. No body has diagnosed it for me. But my psychiatrist prescribed me rexulti. It doesn't stop it completely but it slows it down so much I barely notice it's there. Ask your doctor about trying you on rexulti. It's a very expensive drug. But your insurance should take care of it. I really hope this helps. Whatever this is that we have is unbearable. Good luck

I certainly do have earworms. As you said, some last hours, some last days. I just go with it. I would rather have this problem than some of the other problems I have with bipolar, anxiety, panic attacks and anger issues.

It's a relief to see that others have this! I have an ear worm constantly and often it is songs I don't even like. When I become symptomatic I will hear a song and what sounds like a symphony AND a baseball announcer all at once. It makes for a speedy trip to crazytown. I don't know if it's appropriate to say here but the only way to shut up the noise is to smoke Maryjane. Not for everyone, I know, but it works for me.

I have earworms on a fairly regular basis, for no apparent reason Often, I'll hear a rhythmic beat or tempo in sounds around me (traffic, nature sounds, etc.) that seem to contain the beat of a certain song, and this leads to a song being stuck in my head. It is not bothersome to me, but does make me curious. Often times, I cannot wait for my mind to "change the station" in order to hear some other tune! I tell my good friend about them, when they bug me, hoping to somehow give it away to someone else!

Hello,
I have earworms quite a bit particularly they are triggered when there is a stressful experience with someone, such as someone is pressing my boundaries and I cave in then very subtly a power ballad will go round in my head, almost trying to help me cope with the situation and not to forget myself and my needs. I do have to offer some words of self compassion to myself and see what the thoughts are that are supporting the song being played in my head- such as you are not worthy or you are weird. When you isolate the thoughts and let go into the moment with compassion the song fades. If I tap into the problem again though it resurfaces pretty quickly. But the more you exercise the letting go, cognitive restructuring and compassion muscles it happens less and less.

OMG!!! So glad to know it has a name to it.
I have Bipolar 1, and one of my triggers is repetitive noises. Everyday, I have a song, sometimes several, I can't get my brain to stop playing. And its worse when I cant stand the song. Thank you for the blog. Glad to know Im not alone.

I have had a circus type theme song, only a few notes, running through my head for some years. I really notice it when I'm driving but lately all the time. I just found out that I grind my teeth and actually what I do is move them slightly in rhythm to the music. It's really incessant and bothering me. I have never had any kind of mental health issues or diagnosis. I just want it to stop. Wondering if serious meditation practices might help but can't seem to slow down enough to get into it. Thanks to a previous post I now have the 12 notes from "Smoke on the Water" running through my brain.Would like to find out how to make it stop. It didn't bother me in the past. It's definitely become worse or I'm just noticing it more. NOt sure

Even though I take prescription medication every night and have for years earworms keep me awake for hours on end. Rarely do I ever sleep for more than an hour or two straight. I don't know what to do. I'm 64. It's been a problem for many years.

I, too,have Musical Ear Syndrome. There is a difference between this and earworms. MES is a condition which you are all describing where you actually hear the music. This is what is difficult to control or stop. I would suggest you read any of Neil Bauman's articles on line. He has done a great deal of research on this.

Lol i didnt read the song lyrics when i realsed they were their. Because i knew what whould happen. Im ultra sensitive to noise its getting worse as i get older. I think i would struggle going to tge cinema as its too loud and the large screen with fast moving images would give me tummpimg headache. And the theme tune would stay in my head for a fortnight. Lol

I don't know the difference between earworms and actual auditory hallucinations. I HAD earworms but it has grown - to VERY LOUD music - I have to cover my ears getting out of bed in the morning. My wife freaked out seeing me run out on the street in my pajamas at 3am looking for where the noise was coming from. Sometimes it's just screetching or machinery that I hear. I wonder if an antipsychotic would help? I am also Bipolar 2 with dysphoric hypomania.